K-12 Programs

Zara McDonald Presenting to the Northern Light School in Oakland. Part of the CAT Aware program.

The core of BAPP's efforts to inform our communities about pumas and local ecosystems is a set of environmental education programs for middle schools and high schools throughout the Bay Area. Called 'CAT Aware', these innovative programs teach students about:

the balance and healthy functioning of natural habitats
the central role of pumas in the local ecology
the effects of human expansion on these ecosystems
the larger environmental issues that these trends raise

The program focuses on the charismatic puma as keystone species, in order to convey both the richness of the natural world and the growing damage being done to it by human activities, and to make a powerful impression about the need to preserve habitats and foster healthy co-existence between humans and wildlife.

The CAT Aware Education Program includes:

Introductory Presentation: A live presentation by BAPP's Education Program Manager and Education Teaching Associates using slides, photos, video and personal stories to provide an engaging introduction to the biology, ecology, research and human impact on our region's keystone predator.

Science Lab: A hands-on science lab focusing on predator-prey interactions and the effects of human encroachment on the natural balance; there will also be a separate online version of this lab that runs as a predator-prey population simulator.

Field Trip: An optional field trip to puma habitat to experience real wildlife science with biologists studying wild pumas, including seeing signs of pumas in the forest (tracks, scratches, scat) and tracking actual pumas in the study with radio telemetry.

Interactive Website: A project website for the Bay Area Puma Project that provides interactive tracking maps, community discussion forums, researcher blogs, photos and videos of study cats, etc.

Immersive 3D Game: An online and mobile game called Puma Wild that allows the player to become a puma and experience first hand how human development makes it more difficult to survive.

Remote Cameras: Schools have the opportunity to engage students directly in citizen science by having them help with maintaining a remote camera station in a natural area close to their school.

To learn more about bringing CAT Aware to your school please get in touch.